Pyramid of Death
by megabouncer
Summary: 13 is an unlucky number for a good reason. A mysterious pyramid beckons to Seto, Yugi, Jonouchi Joey and new arrivals to look for the wealth inside. However, earlier exploits have all failed, ending in horrible deaths. Will they survive? Please R&R!
1. Delivery

**Before story thing edit: **Right ... I'll be adding a preview to the story so this won't be against the guidelines. (again.) If you would kindly read through this over (again) you'll see that some minor changes have been made. It seems that FF does NOT allow interactive material. I am not too certain as to whether this is, and if it is, I apologize profusely for causing ... discontent. In order for this to be appropiate, I shall be using ONE or TWO characters that you may PM to be via your OWN kind of format. Thank you. This will be a normal FF, with several OCs - appropiate, I hope, but sort of unique. That was what I was aiming for. I do not own Yu Gi Oh!, Konami, or any of its affiliates. Rating may go up due to future violence and bloodshed. As a sidenote, this Fanfic is NOT romantic. So don't get your hopes up~

Sorry.

**Notes. Format. Etc.**

Read above for updates. The plot below is fixed. Information in the new updated summary. Plot changed due to new fanfic thing.

---

"What should we do?"  
A large man, dressed in a suit that suggested he was from a wealthy family - or that his income was quite large - inquired someone else. The shadowy interior of a building was bathed in a sickly, slightly yellow glow tinged with silver as the moon came out from a dense accumulation of clouds. The windows reflected some of the moonlight, but all in all, the light shone through. Funny thing, Seto thought, that the moon could cause so much -  
Then he got back down to earth.

"Ah, yes." He said softly. "The discovery. We shall be ... enlisting help."  
When the other raised an eyebrow in inquiry, Seto sighed.  
"Explanation will come soon."

"Yes, sir."

"When ... they ... are delivered, you must report to me directly. No exceptions."

"Of course, sir."

"You are dismissed."

As the massive male grunted his approval of the action Seto had intended him to do, and backed away, still facing him, Seto made a sudden movement. The large man opened a door and disappeared behind it, his body shielded from view and the contraption within the door clicked as the door was shut.

Seto's compulsive act, which was to grip the table, was caused by several weeks of one-hour long naps that supposedly 'made up' for the things he had been working on. Dark half-circles was on the bottom lid of his eyes, a result of the under-sleep, as well.

"This has better be worth it."

A pause, as Seto thought a bit more.

"They'll be delivered tomorrow."

-----

**Edit: There have been several negative reviews, as well as positive reviews. I am quite satisfied with the result, though. Keep up the awesome work~**

**Even moar edit: **

Amazing entries, all of you. Unfortunately, due to the new 'storyline', some of the 'reviews' will be ... ignored. )=

I'd like to add a note for you to read the VERY FIRST 'post' in this chapter. I will be **_CONSTANTLY _**updating that until I post the next chapter, but I still implore you to read it. I beseech you, as some High Priests might say.

I would like to thank the current entrants for taking their time to 'invest' into this 'fanfic'. Unfortunately, due to the changes ... you better read the first note.

^TAKEN FROM THE "ORIGINAL" CHAPTER 2, AFTER SOME ADVICE. EDITED AND REVIEWED. FOR THOSE THAT I HAVE PM'ED, YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE ACCEPTED. I AM EXTREMELY SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.


	2. Package

**Author's Notes:**  
Yes! A new chapter of 'Pyramid of Death'. The current 'entrants' have their OC's in the story, no matter how vague. Since this should not be interactive material, I shall be introducing them later in the story, and with permission. Rating may go up. Please read the first post in the first chapter for updates. IMPORTANT: I DO NOT OWN YGO OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, LOGOS, SYMBOLS, ETC. On a friendlier tone, I shall explain what is happening to you. This is DIRECTLY (two days...) after Atem went to the afterlife along with Zorc (Bakura.) Yugi, Anzu, Honda, Jonouchi, and co have reverted back to their normal lives. Seto is multi-tasking, working on Duel Academy as well as some new mysterious project that no one knows about. Yugi still lives with his grandfather, who is pestering him constantly about college. Anzu, by the way, got a new part-time job at a different restraunt that pays decent and is on the edge of Domino. Jonouchi bought a new small apartment with some left-over money from Duelist Kingdom and he and Shizuka have moved in together, due to some problems in his old house (overrun by cockroaches and other bugs that pesticides can't kill.) Honda's whereabouts stayed basically the same, though he got into collecting cards even more, and Ryo still lives in his old house, occasionally contacting the others to see how they are doing. Rated T for mild language, and over-mild violence later on.

POV of Yugi Motou.

----

"Yuuuugii."

That voice still haunts my nightmares.

"Yuuugiii."

Sighing and grunting, amid many other noises that morning is usually associated with (apart from the 'happy' chirping birds, stereotypical alarm clock ...) morning, I kick the sheets back and curse. Where did my Puzzle go? My eyes snap open, violet gems, gleaming in the early morning sun's rays. I blink rapidly. I never liked any kind of bright light.

And then I remembered.

Crap.

He was gone.

"Yuuugii." The old man calls. I could practically see his head poking from around the bend at the end of the stairs. "Wake up! It's time to do your college excersizes and get some breakfast while you're at it! Now that the Pharaoh is gone, you must learn to cope on your own. Plus, there's a rather large package in the mail ... it's addressed to you ..."

Hell, if an elephant was addressed to me I wouldn't be quicker. My limbs were still sleepy and, due to resting on my left hand during the night, my hand was rather numb and had the uncomfortable pin-and-needles feeling. It was also remarkably cold. I took that as a sign of a lack of blood.  
Oh, well.  
Ever since Atem had gone, things usually began pretty bad and got worse.  
Stepping into the bathroom, I turn the tap on, splash my face with cold water, and ... must I continue? I do what people do in the bathroom.

Several minutes later, I'm stepping down the stairs, a radio on the kitchen table turned at an alarmingly high pitch. My grandpa needs a hearing aid. I smell sizzling bacon and fried noodles coming from the kitchen itself, which is blocked by a screen door to the 'eating room'. I then notice a package that is rather large, about two and a half feet or so, with the unmistakable white envelope taped to the front. It's apparently for me.

I had been receiving much fan mail and whatnot lately. I was tempted to throw this away. This was not uncommon.

But the thing on the white envelope had captured my interest.

It was the unmistable logo of KaibaCorp.

What did Kaiba want now? I mused. And why was be giving me a package? I reach out a hand and rip the envelope away from the package. Tape dangles from it. It's rather heavy, and I wonder why Kaiba would be so 'professional' with his mail to me. But then again, he always was. I rip open the envelope. By this time, if Atem was not gone, he would have commented on ...

what would he have commented on?  
Something about Kaiba.  
Yes.

I then take out a random wad of paper. It's folded, and the pink - pink? - paper catches my interest. I unfold it, and something falls out of it that accounts for the heaviness and clatters to the floor. I ignore that. I read the letter.

"To Yugi Motou:

You have been informed of a private investigation happening in KaibaCorp. Contact us immediately and as soon as possible.

KC"

Wait, what? That was it? Lame. Why was the paper so damn big and heavy, then? Oh. It was the thing that fell out. The pink paper (slip, more like) had alot more space at the bottom and it was rushed, as if in a hurry. Kaiba usually wasn't in a hurry, and if he was, his employees always had the time to look things over. Then why was this so ... so ... unlike KaibaCorp?  
or Kaiba?  
And why was there not much information?  
Whatever.

I frown and put that pink slip away, on the table, where it naturally folds over itself again. There are two more wads of paper in there. I reach in and, to my surprise, pull out what are unmistakeably airplane tickets.  
What the hell?  
This is getting strange.  
Along with the airplane tickets, I had accidentallky pulled out the other letter. I unfold that, and it reveals itself as two. No wonder why the envelope was so thick. This had better be worth the paper, I thought. I take the one that was wrapped around the other one and unfold it:

"Yugi,

Through the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City tournament and whatnot I was always astonished with your dueling skill and strategy. You seemed to have developed a different personality when dueling, unlike your usual mild and timid self. I would not usually do a personally typed letter, but because of certain ... circumstances, I have resorted as to so."

Who is this? That was quite obvious ...

"I am quite impressed by what had happened in that Egyptian tomb several days ago. How you were dueling with another - that was naturally assumed to be a hologram, of course, though the opening of the door at the back was a pretty good pretense - and how you seemed to be yourself. I had always thought that it was ... fake. Wrong. Holograms. I continue to think so, though my confidence has wavered since my latest finding. This envelope includes first-class tickets to Egypt. My explanation is futile. Continue reading onto the next paper, and all shall be revealed.

Seto Kaiba President of KaibaCorp"

Nice joke, Jonouchi. How you managed to pull this, use correct grammar and even sound REMOTELY like Seto, I shall never know. Quite possibly you forged the tickets. An amused smile pulled at my lips. I took the smaller piece of paper that had fell out a minute ago, and read its contents:

"Mr. Yugi Motou,

You have been invited of a private investigation, as was stated before. We sincerely hope that you will participate. The information will be revealed to you AFTER you come to Egypt, with all expenses paid. Courtesy of KaibaCorp.

KC"

"Ha!" I breathe. "Nice. Jonouchi, never knew you had it. Or is it Honda?"

There's one last bit of paper in there, and it's the smallest. It's only slightly larger than a post-it. I take it out and unfold it. There are several post-its entangled with it, giving it the look of a thick wad. I take the first one and read it.

"Time: Midnight"

That's it.

The other one:

"Date: Tomorrow"

What the hell? Why couldn't they have just ... used a complete piece of paper to put this information on one whole piece of paper? If it WAS KaibaCorp, I could only think of one explanation. Kaiba wanted to screw with my mind.

Other slip. And last one.

"Package."

It was then I noticed what had dropped out. I bend and pick it up. It's a fragment of ... sandstone? It fit comfortably in my hand. There were several Egyptian-ny engravings on it. My interest perked. Jonouchi had to have guts to go this far.

I open the large, carboard box. There's foam in it, and a Duel Disk sits in there. It's a new design. I have never seen it before. Gasping, I ran my hands across it, then realize that it's protected with an annoyingly thin film. I rip that off, and lift the Duel Disk, looking for an on-off switch. There is none.

The Duel Disk looked like any other, apart from the fact that it was rather ... well, yellow. Very yellow. There were streaks of ugly brown and black across it. Was this some kind of joke? Seriously, the streaks looked plain tacky. And there was a hole. There was a great freaking hole to where your deck should have been placed - the thing on top of the deck that held it in place. It was a gaping carven, as if something was missing. I checked the rest of the package. Nothing. Just the Duel Disk and some foam stuff that prevented the Duel Disk from rubbing against other things. What other things?  
I then notice the slab of sandstone that I had put on the table earlier.

Its shape, which was actually circular now that I looked carefully, seemed to fit in the hole. How much weirder could this get? I mused. Jonouchi couldn't have done this. This was genuine. Apart from the notice. That was shit.

I put the Duel Disk on and insert the slab into the circular hole.

Nothing happened, but I swear that the Duel Disk seemed to glow faintly, as if satisfied with its 'offering'.

What the heck!?

**DONE~ That took about ... half an hour? XP Well, the next chapter is (hopefully) longer than this one and will explain some stuff. LYKSRSLY. R&R.**


	3. Time to Leave

**Yay! Another chapter! I shall torture you with this.  
Hopefully it'll be longer ... or shorter. You never know. I don't own Yu Gi Oh!, etc. And ... this is shorter, though. Hahahahhah!  
**

"Yugi, are you all right in there? I thought I heard a scream!" Grandpa's worried face appeared. His eyes widened as he saw what was strapped on my arm.  
"Yugi, is that a Duel Disk? Where did you get it? Is it fake? What is this new design? It looks kind of tacky. Don't you think?" I was greeted with a salvo of questions. Before I could tell him to calm down, the old man took a step forward and narrowed his eyes at the symbol. I had left the envelope out in the open. Uh-oh. Grandpa didn't fully get over Seto Kaiba's hospitalizing him, and everything.  
"Is that KC? Is that KaibaCorporation?" He asked, a threatening tone underlying the queer quietness of his inquiry.  
"Uh ... yeah ... but don't get ideas! This isn't a hoax or anything. I'm pretty sure that Kaiba needs me urgently - " I began, but was cut off by my old man.  
"NEEDS YOU!? What do you mean, needs you? You're not his boyfriend or anything, are you? Have you been meeting secretly? Oh my god, tell me you're not gay"  
"Of course n "  
"What would your father say? And your mother? If they found out you were gay? Well, your mother didn't really care that much, she's ... ah, your mother. What a nice young lady"  
"Eer "  
"She was right and fit and even visited me when that darned Pegasus put my soul in AWOL state"  
This was one of the strange things about my grandpa. He was growing real old, and kept drifting off from one conversation. First, he was talking about homosexuality and then ... souls?  
"That's great, grandpa." I said, slowly and loudly. "But I have to go tomorrow. Really soon. Can you mind the house while I'm gone?" "Huh? Minds? What mind"  
"No, grandpa. I'll get you a hearing aid, I promise. Just ... I have to go"  
"Wait ... no! You're leaving? Who will take care of me, then?" Grandpa said, frowning. He seemed to catch my last sentence, at least.  
"Er, um ... well ..." I hesitated. My grandpa started ranting about turtles. I reached into my jeans pocket and fetched out a silver-backed phone. Sliding it open, I dialed Honda's phone.  
There were five rings before he picked it up. He sounded a bit sleepy; but then, I was always the early riser.  
"Hm? Yugi? What is it? What time is it, four"  
"Er, I have this problem. Can - can you watch my grandfather for a few days"  
"Why? What's wrong"  
"Personal problems"  
"I guess "  
"Oh, thanks, there's food in the fridge, I'll leave some money over"  
"But - "  
I hung up, then dialed Jonouchi's number. There were ten rings, then I hung up and redailed. On the sixth ring, he picked up. He sounded annoyed, and sleepy as well.  
"Who is this? Do you have any freaking idea what time it is"  
"Oh, hi, Jonouchi!" "Yugi"  
"Uh, yeah. By chance, did you ... did you trick me"  
"What are y' talkin' 'bout, bud"  
"Well "  
I explained.  
"What?" Gasped Jonouchi. He sounded disbelieving. "I swear to god I didn't hoax or trick you or whatever. Oh wait, I have to go now. Someone's at the door." There was a scowl in his tone. "Damned mailman, one phone prank call to the company and they bother you at five in the morning. Bye, Yug'. I'll be sure to call back"  
"...Ok"  
BZZZZTTT.  
Sighing, I buried my face in my hands, then got up. The Duel Disk was getting rather heavy on my left hand, so I took the sandstone piece off and tucked my cellphone, as well as that piece, into my pocket. The Duel Disk beeped feebly then grew silent. I looked at it, then shrugged. I went into the kitchen. My grandpa was using a frozen fish and whacking it on the table repeatedly.  
"Take that, you no-good Kaiba," He said, snarling.  
Weird.  
"Uh, grandpa ..." A sense of sadness came over me and I hugged him suddenly. Surprised, Grandpa dropped the frozen fish, his eyebrows disappearing into his hair.  
"What is it, Yugi? You made me drop Kaiba-kun here." He complained. He struggled to free himself. "Really, Yugi, people would think that you're off to heaven and knowing it." ?  
I sniffed slightly, blinking back tears. If this was a real trip, I might not be back for serveral days. Plus, I was in my 'emotional' era. Without any words, I walked out of kitchen, away from Grandpa and his fish.

**Whee. I promise that the next chapter will actually have SOME moderate bit of action in it. XP I'll give you a little clue hint thing: the next chapter will introduce some weird OC's of my creation (one of them collects shrunken heads. What more to say?). And the general idea of the plot will be revealed. I hope you guys actually look forward to it! Review please, and flames are always taken into account and thought over, then tossed in the trash and laughed at.  
**


	4. Shrunken Heads, Stalkers, and Pyramids

**FINALLY an update~ Whee. There were several punctuation and such mistakes in my last one, I'll try to fix it ASAP. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Yu Gi Oh! of any of its affiliates. Though I wish I did. If I did, Atem wouldn't have left ... I've changed my writing style every so often. Rate me on that?**

My school bag was slung over my back carelessly, resembling Jonouchi more than my usual neat and tidy self. However, I was not about to choose appearances over comfort. I checked the horizon (I had forgot to bring a watch. Oh well) for signs of daybreak, but not even a tinge of the usual blood-red clouds were there. I thought about what had happened after I ate breakfast and moved on to lunch ...

**Flashback:**  
_My grandpa was hobbling over to the breakfast table, a steaming plate in his hands. He looked at me quizzically, as if to ponder the fact of why I was there. Quickly catching on, I said hastily, since a knife was in his fragile old hands (knife+old man with severe brain damage+bad hearing=mahem), "Uh, grandpa, there's no school today since it's Saturday. WE DON'T GO TO SCHOOL ON SATURDAY, SUNDAY, AND HOLIDAYS." I said, in a louder tone - just in case.  
"I heard you the first time," Grumbled Grandpa. He set the plate down. It was the frozen fish I recognized several hours ago. Just before I was about to dig in, my cell phone rang. I groaned, choosing my rumbling and protesting belly over some 'urgent message'. I checked the caller ID; Jonouchi, as usual. I'll call him back. Plus, the noise was making my grandpa's face break into a painful grimace. Never a good sign._

_I quickly turned it off and shut off my cellphone. It gave one last, feeble beep as if that would make me change my mind, but, unfazed, I help my thumb on the red phone icon and it relucantly gave way to 'manpower'._

_After a nice lunch of steaming hot fish, I rushed upstairs and turned my cell phone on. There were quite a lot of unread text messages and calls from you-know-who (no, not Voldemort)  
Sighing, I was just about to call Jonouchi back when I eyed the mountain of homework that my devious teachers had left for me over the weekend. Cursing, I hesitated before shutting the phone back off - the power was quite low - and then sat down on my desk. I waited the usual wait for Atem to appear and assist, but then the horrible truth haunted me and I broke down crying._

_A few minutes later, I wiped the fresh tears from my face and began my homework. I only took a break for dinner, and when it was time for bed, I only had a paragraph left for my English assignment. Making ugly oaths under my breath including my English teacher, a gulliotine, sharp things, and an especially pissed off Bakura, I could only smile in what my brain was producing for me. A beautiful, horrendous image popped up and it was with only a tremendous amount of willpower that I was able to push the image out of my mind and concentrate. Come on, I urged myself. I can do this._

_At last, I was done and, too tired to respond to any of the messages on my cell phone, I brushed my teeth and plopped down on the bed, sighing in pleasure as the soft blankets and pillow enfolded me, urging me to go to dreamland ..._

**End flashback**

Now, I was walking down a pavement that was slightly damp (it rained yesterday night) after leaving a note to grandpa. Honda would be coming over sometime soon, seeing the other note tacked to the front door of the Game Shop. He'll understand. He always did.

I had forgotten to charge my cell phone's battery, but I thought that Kaiba probably had the correct materials to assist with that. If he really was in a hurry, maybe he'll get me a new phone, even. With a little whining and persuasion, he might even get me that iPhone ... or should I get a Blackberry...? Sidekick...?

Immersed in my thoughts, I didn't notice the vibration of my actual cell phone until the third one. I had turned the volume down to Vibrate, to save power, but I kept the phone one just in case Jonouchi wanted to call. And speak of the devil.

"Hey, Yug'!"

"Oh, hi, J-J-J-Jonouchi," I said, failing to stifle a huge yawn. Dang.

"You won't believe it!"

"I won't believe what?"

"You know, that story you told me yesterday - " At this I had to bite back a sharp retort. Who said it was a 'story'? - "well, I got one of those packetmagiggies too! I've been trying to contact you all this time but you're either wasting your time talking to some other dude for six straight hours, or your phone was shut off."

My jaw dropped open. What? How did JONOUCHI get invited? Kaiba hated him! "Uh, that's great, Jonouchi." I said tactfully. "But I'm pretty sure that Kaiba Corporation mailed it to the wrong address and - "  
"Nope, Yug'! There was a very short note in there that Kaiba typed up, personally, to me. Though that scumbag kept acting as if I was retarded or something. Hey, I passed Language Arts, didn't I?"

I wanted very badly at the point to tell him that a 'D-' was just scraping by, but I didn't want to burst his bubble.

"Wow." I said. "Just - wow."

"I know, right? Oops. That was Shizuka. She just woke up."

"Oh, by the way, Jonouchi - why are you awake?" I asked. This was strange, now that I thought about it. If I remembered correctly, the alarm clock I had set to 1:30 A.M. was correct, and this was roughly around 1:45 A.M.

"Er ... to tell you the truth ..." Jonouchi's voice had dropped to an embarrassed whisper. "I was lookin' at sum good stuff on the VCR the other day, and after pranking that damned TV station they sumhow got that TV to go off at one! I'm freaking serious! You could hear the passionate moans if you were on the other side of - "

"Whoa, whoa." I said hurriedly. "I don't need the details, Jonouchi."

"Uh, ok. Well, I better eject that tape before Shizuka finds it." Jonouchi chuckles. "Heh, I'd like to see the look on her face, though..."

"Jonouchi!" I scolded him.

"Fine, fine ... oh shit!" He swore suddenly. "Shit, I don't believe it! I don't freaking believe it! Gotta go, Yug'. SHIZUKA! DON'T TURN ON THAT TV!" And those were the last words I heard from Jonouchi before he hung up.

Shrugging, after turning the phone off, I stuffed it in my jeans pocket and then something stopped me cold.

I didn't know WHERE we were meeting. It was probably a bad idea to call Jonouchi right now, and doubted that any of my other friends were 'invited'. The only option was to call Kaiba, but he'd probably be working on some important manuscript or other. "Shit." I said aloud. I wasn't one to swear outside my mind, but I've become ... feral, let's put it, in the last few days. If I could see my mind room, I bet it was one heck of a bloody mess. Literally. Strewn with my teachers's remnants, guts, innards ...

Then I heard a familiar chopping noise.

A helicopter? I wondered. I looked up. There was a small speck in the sky, no doubt Kaiba's latest kind since the noise it made was helicopter, yet the figure looked strangely ... dragonlike.  
And then I realised that it was the Blue Eyes White Dragon Jet. What was Kaiba doing? And why was he here?

I watched silently as the jet landed. Ther was, instead of the normal rockets under its wings, propellors that had made the noise on its wings, giving more stable flight and a larger cabin. The Blue Eyes looked like a supernerd due to its large forehead. An overweight supernerd - I noticed that its belly (the 'cabin') was at least several times larger than normal. Kaiba's smirk visible even in the dim lighting.

The cockpit open and Kaiba jumped out, gravity-defying coat and all, and, with a flourish, Mokuba followed suit. That was why the head was larger.

"Hi, Yugi!" Mokuba exclaimed. The last thing I saw was the flash of a yellow vest and the little terror was cluthing me around my waist, his head just a little below mine due to my shortness. "Hi!" I said, a bit surprised. Then the full meaning of their visit kicked in. After Mokuba relinquished his grasp, leaving me practically gasping for air, Kaiba coughed slightly. I looked up.

"Yugi, I assume that you have gotten the package that Kaiba Corp sent over?" He asked. Now that I looked closer, I saw that there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Kaiba, have you been sleeping?"

Kaiba interrupted, flicking his wrist as if whacking away an irritating fly.

"No matter. Get into the cabin, we have places to go and people to meet." Kaiba opened the cockpit and pressed a small green button on a dashboard I hadn't noticed. A door on the jet's side materialized seemingly out of nowhere. A lavish cabin was revealed. Without any further ado, and energy suddenly flooding my veins, I practically skipped inside and seated myself. I could almost see Kaiba's one-eyebrow-lift in front of me, but there was solid wood - wood? - blocking the brothers and I from sight.

The door closed and the jet soared up, up ... I heard the steady drumming of the propellors and I slowly drifted off to sleep, the adreline that pervaded my body just a moment ago fading away as quickly as it came ...

I was jolted awake a little while later, when the dragon landed in front of a familiar house. There were airplane-like windows on the sides, and I noticed a certain blonde yelling up at the dragon, but due to Kaiba's careful soundproof walls, none of it got through to us. He was making a rather rude gesture consisting of one finger up at us, though. Shizuka, looking from the threshold of the house, seemed quite terrified.

The cockpit opened once more and I watched interestedly as the two exchanged heated glares and in the end, when Jonouchi was practically slamming his fist on Kaiba's chest in frustration, I decided to intervene. Mokuba had stayed behind, and assuming that there was a hidden microphone.

"Er, Mokuba? I think I should stop this before Jonnouchi challenges Kaiba to a duel. Again."

A moment of silence, then the side door opened. Both fell silent as I walked out, the reputation of a peacemaker already taking effect. Jonouchi gaped at me - I saw that he had a rather large bad slung over his shoulder as well, where the tip of a Duel Disk was evident. Kaiba wore a smug smirk on his face.

"So, the mutt's friend has come to help. Care to give him a bone and shut him up?" Kaiba asked brashly. Frowning and silently hating the fact that I had intervened, I cast Jonouchi a quick glance to make sure he didn't explode.  
"Come on guys, let's go without wasting any more time. Kaiba, I thought you knew better than to use up valuable time by arguing?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow in the way Kaiba did. Scowling, Kaiba didn't say anything apart from, "I'll expect that you and the Golden Retriever will be in the cabin before I fly this thing."

Jonouchi shouted such a nasty string of swears after that in the cabin that I was sure a certain Pope would have looked up from his coffee after a sharp sting on his arm. I tried to calm him down, but to no avail. He was still fuming as the jet landed once again, in front of someone's unfamiliar house. Curious now, Jonouchi leaned across my lap to see whoever it was. It was an uncomfortable position, as he was sitting next to me, and how he was of the same sex as me didn't help that much. Shifting sheepishly, I asked him to kindly get up. He obeyed, subdued.

The jet landed and someone stepped out of the front door, which was a black color. The first rays of the sun were peeping over, and the newcomer's face was washed in light as if he was a god or something.

It was a boy.

He was as tall as Tristan, and that's pretty tall. His untidy uniform, which belonged to our school, I noticed, was unzipped, revealing a rather shriveled gray t-shirt that showed some skin and his toned abs. He wore pants that were too baggy for my taste, and normal white sneakers. His face wasn't ugly; in fact, with some tanning, he would actually count as 'handsome'. But who am I to judge? I'm not a girl, after all.

His hair was hidden by a jet-black baseball cap, which was worn backwards for taste. There was a skull and crossbones on the 'back' of the cap, so I thought that the manufacturers must be some kind of crazy to promote this overrated way of wearing caps. In his left hand the Duel Disk was already strapped to it, deck and all, and in his right he held a single briefcase that, though nowhere as tough as Kaiba's, was quite formidable and large.

Kaiba did the usual introductions, and judging from Kaiba's expression when he returned to the cockpit, this boy's behavior had not displeased him. The boy waited impatiently as the side door opened, and his expression brightened as he stepped in and saw me. There were two rows of seats, with two chairs in each row. Tables seperated the pairs of chairs from each other, as if it was a mini-theatre and instead of aisles seperating the chairs it was tables. Antique tables. With red wine and other stuff on it, now that I examined them carefully. And a cigar pack. The other boy smiled in a way that resembled a shark and set his briefcase carefully down at his feet, as if it contained jewels or something. His grin was directed at me.

"So this is the great Yugi Motou everyone's been talking about," He said. His voice was deep and slightly scratchy, like sandpaper.

"I'm Jared Shuar Jivaro, call me Jay."

He stuck out a hand, which Jonouchi shook happily without his consent. Finally, 'Jay' looked at Jonouchi with an expression that clearly meant that he had not seen him there, and just noticed him. His face expressed surprise, but not distaste. "And who might this be? Duelist Kingdom Jonouchi Katsuya, of course, second place after Yugi Motou!" He said. "Wow, it's like killing two - no, three - birds with one stone! It's a pleasure to meet you." Jonouchi frowned a bit at the bird comment, as if he'd rather be a dog, then seemed to brush it off.

"Nice to meetcha, Jay."

There was an uncomfortable silence as I mused why Jay had used that expression.

"So, Jay," Said Jonouchi unexpectedly. "What do you do ... as a hobby? Apart from the obvious I mean," He chuckled, waving a careless hand at his Duel Disk. Jay's eyes suddenly clouded over.

"I collect **shrunken heads**," He said straightfowardly.

"What?" I sputtered, unable to contain myself. Jonouchi's mouth was open and he looked retarded. Like Kaiba had called him.

"Authentic ones, too. Not the fake ones Americans make," Jay said, a scowl evident on hs face. He opened the briefcase. "Here, let me show you."

Sickened but curiosity getting the better of us, Jonouchi and I crowded around the briefcase. All I could catch, however, was a large nose before the jet landed roughly. Jay immediately slammed the briefcase shut to prevent harm coming from his shrunken heads. I looked out.

It was another unfamiliar house. The house was quaint, near the suburbs (we had surburbs?) but not quite. I was surprised at how fast this jet had traveled. Almost immediately, a figure opened the lime-green door and someone stepped out. The sun was rising fast, so it was easy to make out the distinctive features of a female.

She was not pretty, nor ugly, nor anywhere in between. I take that back - she's leaning towards the pretty side, but not quite. My brain struggles with this for a moment then I realize that there are olive-colored streaks down her face, flowing from her equally-green colored eyes, as if she was crying but the tears were green and stuck there. **(1)**

Most possibly and obsessed cosplayer or some person who like paints - a lot. Her hair wasn't pulled up into a ponytail or anything, and it was grayish in color and went down to her shoulders. Instead of being all over the place, however, it looked well-groomed. There was a faded black beanie with a green print on it that rested on top of her head (what is with her and green?) She was dressed in a most peculiar shirt, that stretched tightly though wasn't exactly skintight.

The same print was at the bottom-left corner of her shirt, which was completely blue apart from the print, which was dark gray. She only had one sleeve, on her right arm, which was gray and no sleeve at all on the other arm. They both had white gloves on them, though. A see-through 'X' crossed over her entire body, looking extremely weird. Where the lines met in the middle, a green diamond formed. There were two cloth-like belts around her waist, forming a fat, squatted 'X' there and a green butterfly clip was strapped securely to her right hip. Tight bicycle shorts she wore (gray. I was getting sick of all this blue-green-gray-whiteness. The blue was light, too, which didn't help a smidgeon), and to top it all off, she had these long, elegant boots with a green band strapped around it to bind the foot to the boot.

I stared at her, exasperated. Why the strange get-up? Upon even closer squinting and much shoving due to Jonouchi and Jay, who had come over to look, I saw a small butterfly clip that was small enough to clip her hair with that was clipped on her neck. The shirt she wore was a turtleneck, but not a sweater. I wondered how long she would last in winter.

Seto, unfazed by her strange appearance (perhaps he had seen so much of himself in a mirror with his coat and all, that he grew used to these oddities. I wasn't about to complain either - my hair was an explanation for everything I had kept to myself. Didn't want to be a hypocrite), approached her and they began to talk. Not a minute later, she headed towards the slowly opening side door. I noticed that the door opened upwards, but why I took this small matter in I don't know.

This girl, I noticed, had a large green fanny pack strapped at the back of her cloth-like belts. It was bulging. Seriously. I wondered how she kept it on. I was pretty sure the Duel Disk was in there.

The jet started up again, and Mimi sat in the window seat behind Jay. Her eyes scanned the rooms quickly, taking everything in, and then she crossed her arms over herself and her eyes closed, seemingly asleep. Jay propped himself up so he was looking at her, with his knees on the seat and arms on the top of it, turned around, and said loudly, "Hey, what's your name?"

Immediately the girl reacted and before we knew it, the suitcase (2) was in her hands. We were so surprised that she had accomplished such a feat that everything was quiet for about a minute. Then, with a war-worthy cry, Jay leapt up and tried grabbing the suitcase from her. His precious collection of shrunken heads was probably his most prizes possession, I thought, apart from his cards obviously.

The girl just smirked and jerked the case away from him, and with expert skills she unhinged the briefcase, easily cracking a code that was clasping it shut and that I had never noticed. Jonouchi and I were both staring. Finally, after examining the contents and snorting, the girl tossed the briefcase to the ground. Before she did, though, I noticed that her hand went to her fanny pack with expert speed before appearing. I wondered if she had stolen a shrunken head. Jay looked immensely relieved as he caught he briefcase. He glared daggers at the girl.

"What the **(CENSORED, though they will not be in the near future)** was that for?" Jay shouted, his mouth spewing curses that only Jonouchi could have rivaled. The girl looked up, seemed to consider us for a brief moment of time, then said, "My name is Mimi." in a calm tone. However, her voice seemed to me to be mysterious, like a stalker's. I shook myself mentally. Of course she wasn't a stalker. Was she?

Then 'Mimi' went to sleep.

Jay was still fuming and Jonouchi and I still befuddled. I noticed that there was a small plastic rectangle on the side opposite of the green butterfly on her hip. It was filled with Duel Monsters cards. I smiled. We were all duelists, after all.

Seto's voice, distorted through the mechanism, spoke out of nowhere from a hidden speaker.

"We shall be reaching our next destination in several hours. Just seat yourself and make yourself comfortable, just don't go ape shit all over the wine."

Then the intercom clicked off. I thought about grandpa, and Jay, and the stalker Mimi, and Jonouchi and Seto and Mokuba and Anzu and Bakura and finally of what lie ahead of us. Then I drifted off to sleep.

The end.

NO JUST KIDDING HA.

Several hours later ---

The jet landed softly, waking the four people within. Mimi was the first to wake up, and she made a deal about it, too. "Wake up, we've landed." She said with a hint of a growl. Jay shuddered and clutched his briefcase, which he was holding dearly during the flight, ever the more closer.

The side door opened once more, and before I could look out the window, glaring sunlight flooded the cabin. The 'inhabitants' within groaned and moaned and stretched their muscles, apart from Mimi, who was already up and headed out. Jonouchi sniffed.

I waited until Jay had gotten out until Jonouchi and I followed. My foot sunk deep into sand. Crying out loud, I looked up and realized that we had flown all the way to a familiar place. Egypt!  
Surpsied, I asked Jonouchi what the time was. He checked his watch - it was ten in the morning. We had traveled for roughly eight hours instead of the 'several' that Seto had promised. The four teenagers trudged sleepily after Seto and Mokuba, who had both taken the initiative and were speed-walking towards a large, professional-looking building. I saw that it was a smaller replica of the amazing KC building in Domino City. There was a large pyramid behind it, about a mile or two away, I calculated.

As the revolving doors were put into motion by a sensor as we neared it, I saw that Jay, Jonouchi, and Mimi were all looking skywards. I looked up, too, and gasped.  
There was a man. He was on top of the building and jumping. Was this a suicide we were witnessing?

Seto just watched calmly as the man reached an unseen ledge near the top, then jumped his way down. There was an air of satisfication that I loathed around the man. Upon closer looks, the man was a ... a ...  
"Ninja," whispered Jonouchi.

"Shadow, you are to be watching these kids during the ... mission." Seto said, jerking a thumb dismissively at us. Growling, I had to hold back Jonouchi as he lunged at Seto. Jay helped when it was fruitless, and Mimi (to our surprise) helped too, though all she did was grab and arm and began to ruthlessly tear at it again and again. Only when Jonouchi's arm dislodged did she stop, though Jonouchi was howling in pain.

The ninja went into action. He delivered a blow to his arm, jarring it back into the socket and Jonouchi began to breathe easier after a sharp yelp as the ball went into the socket. He made an ugly, spiteful face at Mimi, who equalled it with her own. At least Jonouchi wasn't getting beaten to a pulp by Seto ... Seto seemed not to notice that his 'life' was 'threatened' just a moment ago. On the contrary, he was already heading inside, the ninja at his heels. We followed him...

at the top floor, there was a copy of Seto's desk. He sat down on the large chair behind it, and there were wooden chairs for us to sit on. The ninja stood. This 'ninja' was dressed in faded yellow, I noticed. Like Naruto or something, though not as glaring and sharp and a pain in the butt. It wasn't one-piece, either, though skintight.

"Eh ... so, Kaiba," I state simply. There is an awkward silence as Kaiba shuffled some papers on his desk. Then his neck snapped up with so much ferocity I was surprised it didn't snap. His piercing blue eyes looked at me for a second, lingering, then surveyed the rest with less ... hunger?

"What?" He then said, the faintest hint of a snarl. The ninja shivered.

"What?" I said, in sudden outrage. "What..? Kaiba, explain yourself!" I shouted. I was standing up.

Kaiba looked haggard, tired, more tired than I have ever seen him. I was instantly sorry for my outburst. I sat down, shame-faced. Kaiba stood up, and began to speak.

"Fine, I shall do so. I suppose you do deserve an explanation, after all." A sigh. "It all began when a pyramid was found ... it was built near the end of the Old Kingdom, near the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, so there were not as much pyramids built then. This one was made against a certain pharaoh's will. That pharaoh was the pharaoh that followed Aba, the one we know so little about, almost nothing.

"It was revealed later on that the pyramid, as a tomb, held a wealth of gold and jewels, as usual. Tomb robbers raided it, as usual, but for some reason less and less tomb robbers began to attack it until the notion ceased. There were death omens and the such engraved on and around the mouth of the pyramid, and from the hieroglyphics from the hallway inside, something about the number thirteen. Some archaeologists entered, but ... never ... returned." Seto said, ending it with a grinding of his teeth. I supposed that he still hated anything remotely related to magic. "Thirteen was everywhere. The pictures on there showed thirteen escapees, though we don't know from where; it showed thirteen bats; it showed thirteen foes; it showed thirteen ... people; it showed thirteen deaths; thirteen souls, even; and, the strangest of all, something not related to thirteen at all. It showed one more man being killed, and four or so others being severely wounded.

"Anyway, some officials began to get interested, and after making a pact with the people in charge of tours, the government, and the such - your pea-brains wouldn't understand - Kaiba Corp was dragged in. We sent a team consisting of thirteen, but so far none of them have reported back."

"How long ago was that?" Mimi interrupted. Kaiba cast her a glance, then replied promptly, "six months."

There was a gasp from Jonouchi, and Jay actually looked up from his briefcase, startled. Mimi raised her eyebrows and unclipped the butterfly at her hip, while I just stared at him, flabbergasted.

"What about - what if they're dead?" I asked. Jonouchi cringed at my straightforwardness. "Shouldn't their families be informed?"

Seto's gaze was cold, as usual. "They signed an agreement against any action against Kaiba Corporation. In other words, their family or friends cannot sue or attempt o sabotage the company or its affiliates in any way. They put themselves to risk. Most of them were lifeless losers, wanting a share of the gold within the pyramid. It's amazing how even the most professional archaeologists have not suceeded."

"Then why do you need us?" Asked a voice. I turned around. Jay was the asker, his voice higher than his usual low drum.

"That will be explained shortly," Said Seto.

"And why do we need these Duel Disks?" Mimi.

"And why ... us? You could have chosen others!" Jonouchi.

"What is a ninja doing here?" Me.

"Are we going to be escorted?" Jay.

And so on.

Seto listened to our complaints until he raised a hand. We fell silent. The room dimmed and curtains were pulled to cast the room into darkness. There was a bright spot on the curtains. I realised that it was from an overhead-like machine. It was attached to Seto's computer. Seto lifted up a remote control that he had in his hands all alone, and clicked a button on it. The machine clicked and whirred, and an image appeared on the screen.

It was Mimi's turn to gasp now, Jonouchi fainted, Jay slumped and turned even paler - and I screamed.

The picture showed a dead man, with an arrow through his head and bits of gray flesh everywhere. I counted the arrows. Thirteen in all.

**WHEW!~ Finished. Finally! That took several hours. XP Well, the next chapter will have the very first duel, I promise. :) Please R&R and I thank a certain someone for subscribing!**

**(1) Taken from Galbinus with permission. To see the actual art, go to galbinus (dot) deviantart (dot) com and browse through her gallery. Click on the 'original pics' icon. You should be able to find it from there. ;)**


	5. Explanation

**Wow I'm updating like hell.  
I hope you enjoy this chapter. Hopefully there will be the first duel here, but seeing that this story is moving rather slowly, I'd say that you might have to wait until the next one. I'm such a liar. Lol. Disclaimers and shizzle: I don't own Yu Gi Oh and/or its affiliates. What won't I give for it, though ...**

"Holy - holy shit." Jonouchi said. His knuckles were white where he grasped his chair. The chair began to crack under his powerful hands, and then finally his hands crushed the edges and Jonouchi swore again, small droplets of blood spewing out from the wound were splinters of wood stuck out from his hands. Soundlessly, a bodyguard materialized from nowhere and assisted him in his injury. Mimi, Jay, Seto, the ninja and I watched silently as Jonouchi dealt with his problem. Several minutes later, a large Dora band-aid tied tightly around his hand and blood-stained splinters on the ground, Jonouchi finally settles down. He looked fairly bad-tempered due to the Dora band-aid, though.

"As I was saying ..." Seto said. His expression was stony through the whole thing, and I wondered if he was so used to this kind of reaction that he didn't bother putting on facial expressions for it anymore. "This was a picture found in the camera of one of our explorers. He used to be a part-time nurse, and the sick bastard that he was, decided to snap pictures of this dead person, known as Jackson Midwell to us." A click, and the slide changed. It showed 'Jackson' propped up against the wall, and a hand protruding from the top of the image - most probably the nurse's hand - was holding Jackson's hand up, as if he was waving. I felt bile coming up, and quickly swallowed it.

"I'm quite glad to say that this nurse was one of the missing. Only his camera remains, found in a doorway near the main passage, which branches off in several directions." Another click and he slide changes, showing a graph of the pyramid. It has seven layers, starting with the ground one. I see many other small branches and rooms, probably fake burial rooms, all over the place. What puzzled me the most was that the pyramid wasn't arranged in a maze-like manner, but instead more like an ant den or whatnot. I wasn't too familiar with the layout of a pyramid, though, so I let it slip. Seto used a stick that he had conjured out of midair to point at the top levels of the pyramid, which were blank. I stared at it.

Only the bottom three levels were mapped. Puzzled, we looked at the brunette inquiringly but he somehow managed to avert our gazes. "Our explorers failed to map out the rest of the pyramid. Here is a different look of the pyramid." The slide changed, and it showed a large pyramid that looked like it was cut in halves. The two halves began to spin. I saw for a brief moment that the top ten levels were blank, while the bottom ones had complex tunnels and the such.

"And where do we come in?" Piped up Jonouchi. Five heads swiveled into his direction; even the ninja and Seto were paying attention. We had not expected him to talk. Flushing, the blonde stammered for a bit, then said with more steadiness, "I mean, what do you want us for? For all I know, all we have in common is that we're duelists. Why the hell would we need - " his question was answered abruptly from Seto. His face showed no emotion, but his voice was traced with disgust.

"Tch. Apparently, over the radios that they packed before the signal was - " Seto paused dramatically here - "cut off, there appeared to be ..." Seto fumbled with a fringe on his shirt. He looked distraught, and I only knew of two ways to make him like that: losing a duel, or -

"Magic." Seto grunted. He turned away from us, and surveyed the curtains, which suddenly seemed much more interesting. Before the words could cause an uproar, he said quietly (but for all I know it had the effect of a foghorn that was blown three inches away from my ear), "not magic exactly. Apparently," and here, he turned around and gave a slight roll-of-the-eyes, "there were duelists."

"Well, that's to be expected," Jay said. "I mean, there must have been thieves or the such in the pyramid too - and the simple way to distract one of your 'explorers' was to challenge him to a game of Duel Monsters." Jay shrugged. "I mean, seriously. Even adults play that game. It's became that popular."

Seto looked both furious and pleased that Jay had said that - the latter was because of the 'popular' remark on Duel Monsters, the former since Jay had heavily implied that his explorers were childish and insubordinate, not to mention easily distracted.

"No." Said Seto, his voice slightly muffled because he was obviously grinding his teeth to shreds behind those lips of his, "In fact, they weren't theives. Quite the opposite." He forced a laugh. "They ... were ..." Then it came. "...mo...nsters." Seto choked out these last several words like someone would eject puke from their mouths. The hard part done with, Seto sat down and surveyed us.s

Once again, we were surprised. Mimi's butterfly clip wobbled in her hands, as if she had nearly dropped it. Her lips were slightly parted, like a lover's. Jay's expression was the complete opposite of hers. He was just sitting there. I shock, I supposed. Jonouchi, on the other side, had maxed out Mimi's expression. Jaw practically lowered to the ground, his hand forgotten, Jonouchi's leg had kicked out in reflex and hit Kaiba's table. The table didn't budge an inch, but Jonouchi fell to the ground, crying out in pain. The bodyguard moved at once, but Jonouchi was faster; within half a second, he had lifted himself back into the chair, though wheezing a bit and clutching his right leg's shin. I, myself, who had braced against something of the sort, merely grunted loudly in surprise, the grunt sounding much like a pig's snort. I berated myself for it again and again.

"Fuck." Jonouchi muttered.

"How is that possible?" Asked Jay. His eyes were clouded over in concentration; his train of thought was probably speeding at 300MPH.

"The thing is, it isn't!" Seto said, a bit sharply. I guess he still smarted from Jay's previous comment. "I thought it was a prank or something of the sort, then the other team went in and found the camera," Seto said, rather impatiently. "The thing is, these beasts (though I am perfectly convinced they are humans dressed in costumes) challenged each of the explorers to a duel when they went close to one of the rooms, which were seemingly chosen at random. Each of the explorers ... lost." Seto said. "I couldn't get much farther on the radio about what happened when they lost, but I could hear strange sounds that I'd rather not share with you at the moment." A huff from Jonouchi.

This is starting to sound more and more like a bad fanfic, I thought. "Well, does this go back to Ancient Egypt and how there were monsters that summoned one another?" I asked, amused.

"No!" Seto snarled. "Have you seen that dead man? It's a disgusting, horrible game and I intend to get down to the root of the problem." He slammed his hand down on the table, making it groan. I shuddered and wondered how loud Jonouchi would howl if that was him.

"Wait. Game?" Said Mimi.

"A duel is a game - " Began Jay, but Seto cut across him.

"Moving along - I'll get to the nub of this mess. I want you five to go into the pyramid and investigate each of the floors. I'll take care of the mapping and other shit, all I want you to do is defeat the creatures within. We know little to nothing about them." Seto said. "I wasn't even supposed to tell you about the other group of ten." His eyes looked over each of us carefully, ice-blue shards that was set on his face.

"Our lives are in jeopardy," Jonouchi whined.

"I'll give you a hundred thousand yen each, so shut your yapping mouth," Seto snapped.

Jonouchi shut up quite quickly, and Mimi, Jay and I both wore faces of mild delight and surprise.

"Get to work. We'll move out now . " Seto finished. The curtains were opened and the overview vanished.

SEVERAL MINUTES LATER

"Is this it?" Roared Jonouchi over the freak sandstorm that had brewed as we walked out of the building. We were standing in front of the large pyramid we had seen behind the building. The jeep that we had ridden to there was parked next to the pyramid, the keys still in the ignition.

"YES!" Shouted the bodyguard, who was accopanying us. Grunting in response, Jonouchi watched as Seto tapped something from within his coat - a hidden button - and the door to the pyramid slid open. I watched as the slab of sandstone was moved by an invisible force. The inside was lit by modern lanterns that banged against each other as the sand and wind blew in.

"Move in!" Seto commanded. I trailed at the end of the group, Duel Disk strapped onto my arm and still unsure as to if this was some delicate prank made by Seto.

And then the slab of sandstone slid shut and we, along with the bodyguard, were left to die in that pyramid.

Or not.

A built-in radio buzzed and came to life on my Duel Disk. I looked down, shocked for a moment, then remembered that I had put the 'power on' by putting the stone in a moment ago.

"Yugi." It was Mokuba. "Be careful."

Then the radio went dead.

**DONE This was a rather short chapter. More like an explanatory-filler chapter until the excitement comes ... in the next chapter. I seriously promise that it'll come. I won't lie like usual. Really. Trust me ;) I hate this chapter though, it seems so CORNY. I hope the next chapter with its blood and gore and violence will make up for it. Tell me when I have to make the rating higher. Thankies!~  
**


	6. The Gore Begins?

**Wow, sorry for the laate update. This will be a fairly short chapter. Homework and everything. Haha, joking. I was watching Family Guy and reading Air Gear. XP**

----

"O - okay." I said uncertainly. A bit of static that died out rather quickly.  
Jonouchi shivered. "Yug', I don't like the feeling of this place," He moaned. I whispered, as the group walked down the aisle, "Neither do I"  
The ninja man suddenly dodged to the right, shoving Mimi aside. "Hey, what - " She began in an angry shout, but then a shower of arrows flew out of nowhere and landed in the exact spot where the girl would have stood. She just stammered a bit more, slightly pink in the face, then grumbled and trudged onwards. Jared snickered, and I swear that he said something really rude.  
"God." The ninja said for the first time. I was surprised. he had a rather girly voice. "You, like, need to like, watch your step"  
We were so shocked at his voice that we didn't notice where we were going. Jonouchi cursed as he looked down at his Duel Disk, jumping back in surprise. "This thing just vibrated!" He yelped.  
Wondering where we were, there was a moment of peaceful silence before Jared started shouting out loud. I couldn't see anything, since we left the lamps several minutes ago and were depending on a hidden flashlight that came out of the Duel Disks. There was a quivering in the air, and suddenly the walls came to life! I squealed like a pig and began batting my arms around. They connected with membrane. "Chill out, it's like ... only like, bats." The ninja said, with a hint of a smirk that I couldn't see.  
"But what would bats be doing in here?" Jared asked. "This is a pyramid, not a cave." He grumbled.  
"I bet there are thirteen bats, eh?" Jonouchi guffawed. Someone elbowed him in a shoulder, cutting him off in mid-sentence. Or, should I elaborate further, mid-guffaw.  
We rounded a corner. I calculated we were on the second floor, as the floors kept on gradually sloping upwards, like in the diagram. I thought about contacting Mokuba and asking him where we were, but I didn't want to seem like a sissy so we continued.  
I tripped over something fleshy while we were going up a set of stairs. Crying out loud, I waved my arms to no avail. My rump met solid sandstone.  
I saw the rest of the group turn around - I was trailing off at the end - and a high-pitched scream from who I assumed was the ninja.  
There was a dead man on the ground. His greying flesh was ripped and torn in some parts, and his (previously) leather jacket was decaying before our eyes. The stench became apparent. I pinched my nose and looked down - his feet were splayed out, like someone giving birth, and I had tripped over his right foot while going up. Clumps of skin and muscles were out in a fan-like notion of where I had kicked it. Shivering, I slowly backed away in horror and disgust.  
"This must be one of the dead people," Said Jonouchi quietly. Without further ado, I slammed my fist on the Duel Disk, meaning to get into contact with Mokuba. There was a loud burst of static, then a raspy voice.  
"What is it, Yugi? Did you get to the third floor yet?" I recognized this as Kaiba's voice. Shit.  
"Er, no. We've had some delay ..." I explained impatiently to him about the body. I looked at the dead person's face. I heard a whimper from Jared. The eyeballs were hanging out, tendons the only things that attached themselves to its face. The eyes were a bloody mess, and with gore strewn out of his open mouth, it wasn't a pretty sight. His face was so horribly disfigured even Mimi looked away.  
When I was done talking, Kaiba was silent for about half a second.  
"Yugi, I thought I told you to prepare youself. You need to be braced to see things like this. Be careful." Then there was a burst of static and there was nothing.  
"But you didn't ... tell me ..." I tried to say, but he was already gone.  
"Ah, don't think about that." Jonouchi said. He rubbed the back of his neck where beads of sweat accumulated profusely.  
"we have to keep on going," He ninja said. Then he dropped to the ground, beheaded.

**--**

**Sorry for the lateness. And shortness. HAHAHA. Woot, THIRTEEN reviews! =O  
**


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